Summary

The article discusses strategies for overcoming the psychological impact of loss aversion when missing a daily routine, emphasizing the importance of flexibility and recovery.

Abstract

The author of the article shares personal experience about missing a daily routine due to unforeseen circumstances, such as illness and bad weather. Despite sleeping for 15 hours and missing out on morning activities like workouts, blogging, and breakfast, the author emphasizes the importance of not letting one bad day disrupt long-term performance tracking. The article suggests that even if a routine is disrupted, it is possible to recover by redistributing tasks throughout the day, focusing on essential activities, and practicing impromptu scheduling. The author advocates for internal rewards as motivation for completing tasks, even if they are done later in the day, and maintains that missing one day out of many does not significantly impact overall progress.

Opinions

The author believes that morning routines are easier to maintain due to fewer disturbances and the flexibility to make up for missed activities later in the day.
There is a recognition of the stubborn mentality required to maintain streaks of daily activities, even on bad days.
The author values the importance of not overburdening work hours by shifting some activities to the evening, acknowledging the limitations of energy levels.
The article suggests that loss aversion in the context of daily habits can be mitigated by ensuring essential tasks are completed before bed, thus maintaining a sense of progress and accomplishment.
The author encourages readers to view each day as a new opportunity, rather than dwelling on a single disrupted day, highlighting the insignificance of one bad day in the grand scheme of a year.

How to Overcome The Loss Aversion When You Miss A Daily Routine?

Weather is rainy here since the last few days. Especially if it rains at the wrong time, it can mess up your whole schedule.

Yesterday, I felt so cold going out without a jacket that I caught a minor fever. If I told my family ( who are in a different city right now ), they would freak out.

My eyes were burning, I couldn’t stay awake for long, and I needed rest.

If the day starts bad, it will drag till the end.

Yesterday I slept for almost 15 hours, and when I woke up today, I missed my whole morning routine. I missed workout, morning blogging, on-time breakfast and the most energetic morning hours when I do task-planning every day.

If a person follows a routine every day, and somehow he misses some critical tasks at the start of the day, it can come as a negative sign, especially if that person is tracking the performance.

And I do, I track my performance for long-term progress, and when I go blank one day, I have ample time to recover. So here is the first step to overcoming loss aversion when following a daily routine.

Morning routines are difficult to lose track.

Why is it easier to follow morning routines? There are two main reasons:

There is no one to disturb you at that time, and you are the master here. You can manage your schedule your way.
Even if you forget some activities as it happened with me today, you can still cover up some of them later in the day depending on their importance.

The second one fits in my case. I usually wake up around 4 AM and the fixed morning routine lasts till 8 AM. Even if I miss one day, I don’t have to worry. I can distribute the schedule throughout the day.

Impromptu scheduling for maximum recovery

There is a stubborn mentality when doing an activity on a streak. You will try every day even if it is a bad day.

That’s what I did today. I missed morning blogging, and I am doing it right now.

It is 8 PM here. I missed the morning workout, and I did some dynamic stretching a few hours back before 30 minutes evening walk.

Checking off the task list at the end of the day

There are a few more activities I missed in the morning, like a pre-workout meal, reading, and breakfast.

I did not want to disturb my work hours, so I pushed whatever I could do the evening time because evenings are exhaustive anyways. You can only do so much.

I did the two activities that are most important for me: workout and blogging. Rest everything I will get back tomorrow.

Final words

Specific to daily habits, loss-aversion is the thought about losing your activity trend if you don’t show up for a single day. It is not just one day that you skip it; this can extend for more days if not taken seriously!

The best thing to do in such case is making sure to cover the essential tasks before going to bed and be happy that you gave your best. You can develop a system of internal rewards that come from putting in the best efforts.

Tomorrow is another day, another opportunity to make your mark. So what if one day drags you. It is just one out of 365 days in a year. Even good this time, this year has 366 days, LOL!

This blog belongs to a series of posts I am publishing in this 100-days streak. Navigate to the end of article 22, for the references from day 23 onwards. If you would like to read the ones before day 22, here is the first one that documents them in the end.

~ Sanjeev